Grumpy old men

I found myself becoming one of these guys for a bit this week. Was it Wednesday?? - anyway I arrived at the Healing Home to discover that visitors were, well, now camping. The Healing Home was becoming a marae and I still have too much pakeha blood in these veins. Silly stuff really - it's most likely set back my sainthood a year of two.

We try to have a 'one patient may have one family member' policy. Not two family members and two kids - one person. Read my lips.

Sophea and Donnie - who live upstairs and help me to keep laughing through my wifeless days. Sophea has discovered my love for passionfruit - and knows the one stall in a local market to source these beauties. She gave me half a dozen yesterday - yay for Sophea!

Part of the fun at the mo is navigating the public holiday system. Cambodia has over 20 public holiday days - I kid you not a bit. This Wednesday and Friday were holidays; then Monday week followed by Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the Water Festival. Our staff have happily agreed to take a full week off over Water Festival and I'll owe them a day in the lieu thereafter.

This means that the Healing Home will close for a week from 9 November. It is not actually a problem; people want to be with their families and a number of our folk were plannng to exit anyway and come back afterwards. Susie is due back in the middle of that week (12 November). I'm trusting that I'll be grump-free by then!

Ngeit's tale

'Ngeit' is fun to say. You put your tongue into 'ng' as in song, and then say 'night'. The girls correct me every time.

Ngeit was one of our new patients whom I was introduced to on my return from NZ. She has been diagnosed with arthritis and has been in a lot of pain through her body, arms and fingers. I did not know so much about her until I sat at her bedside this week, together with Chantol, to pray for her.

While praying, I kept having an impression of a verse that says that 'when you pray, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them ...' So, we stopped praying, dug out the verse and talked to Ngeit. She started to cry.

Ngeit and her little daughter Dtouch (we call her Dtouch number 2, to distinguish her from our cook!)

Ngeit told us that she had a major falling out with her village neighbour. The animosity escalated. The neighbour went to a local witch-doctor and paid him to curse Ngeit. After that, she became sick.

We've got Ngeit on a new medicine. It is called 'blessing those who curse you'. Now, before we pray for her, we ask her to pray blessing on her neighbour. These are her steps to freedom. She testifies that the pain level has truly decreased these last two days.

I have a dream

Actually, I've got a few of them on the boil.

The dream in the heading is not such a spiritual one. I'm keen to get to making a calendar to communicate with the world just what a motorbike's life can be like in Phnom Penh.

This happy moto I snapped on the phone camera as we were pulling off some traffic lights not far from my house.

Srourn's neighbourhood walk

Srourn is the delightful, placid guy with a horrendous bone-eating disease that has gone through his leg and up into his buttocks. Last week his treasure of a wife came to visit. She brought a wee grand-daughter too.

Srourn's wife is hugely lovely - a wonderful smile, a vibrant faith and just an incredibly grateful heart. She was so thrilled to spend the week with her man and so happy too at the degree that his weeping sores have been managed through his regular visits to the CSI clinic and the care of our girls.

CSI says that his leg must be amputated to save his life. Sopheap translated as I carefully told him what the doctors say - and the miracle that we are believing for. Srourn had such big sad eyes as we talked. His wife is a champion. She so loved on him and encouraged him that, leg or no leg, he is her man.

Waiting for the van pick-up - Srourn with his wife and grand-daughter.

Walking out - a huge step for Srourn. With him is Wayne, Frank's (from Hagar) 'brother' who has worked at the Healing Home for the 5 weeks I was away. He has been a huge gift to us - and sadly returns to Aussie this week. Actually Frank does not have a brother - but I only discovered that after getting back here ....

Srourn has happily gone home for three weeks, and will return to us after a big holiday festival in mid-November. We had to get him to the outside road for pick-up. No way was he going in the wheel-chair. He determined to walk the 60 metres - and that he did. It was a great exercise in neighbourhood exposure.

Now, our neighbour opposite has made an approach about a sick family member. Brilliant! We are beyond full at the moment tho' - new people mean every bed is filled and a few family extras are on the floor.

Only mad dogs and Englishmen

"Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" is a classic line attributed to Rudyard Kipling. It was written, I believe, from his observations of life in Burma - which is just a few borders away.

It's still 30 degrees or more here - in the shade. Humidity is constantly in the 90's. I had to pop down to the local market a few days back right on midday and spied the mad dog's mate. Here was a white fella clad in running shoes and shorts, shirt off in all his hairy glory, cracking a smart pace through the heart of the midday market. Unbelieveable!!

Long finding his legs

Long has been hugely happy these last few days. Firstly, I picked up a bucket of building blocks for the little guy. He has been industriously creating ever since - and very excited about it all.

Secondly, Long has hijacked Srourn's walkie. Yesterday Srourn was stretched out on the outside concrete seat in the late afternoon, as he does. Next thing, Long snaffled the walkie and was away - and with the biggest grin you have ever seen. He's been zipping around much of today too. It is like someone has given a kid wings - he is that excited about being out of mum's arms.

Long this evening. I can put my thumb and finger around his right shin and literally not touch his skin.

Long has a horrible disease that works a bit like HIV, in as much as it attacks his system. We've got him on extra high-nutrition drinks and good big meals as we seek to build up his reserves. I was so moved yesterday too when I got him some ointment - and watched his mum pray over him as she massaged the cream into his sores. The love of a mum is an inspiration in every culture.

While Long is finding his legs, Rin is finding her voice. Rin, remember, is the lady who came to us about 12 weeks ago, curled into a catatonic ball. Upon my return, I find a Rin who sits in the wheelchair, head high and now feeding herself like a front end loader. She still will not talk or respond to anyone when she is spoken to, but she will randomly break out into song. She's got the blues and the neighbourhood know it. The content is apparently a funeral-dirge type lament about her children that she misses so.

My belief is that, for two years, Rin has shut off from this world and formed a world within her imagination. I think that she has made some suspect friends in that world too. Now, as her body becomes stronger, we have the work of bringing her back into our world. She is a work of grace in progress.

Rat attack set back

Whilst back in NZ Peter the Parker gave me a new super-beaut rat snapper. This little ingenious machine drops a lamb-docking rubber ring around the head of any snooping ratty that steps the wrong way. In tandem with super-cat, the Healing Home's rat free days were nigh.

Our girls had a good yard cleanout today. They found the rat-snappers secret hiding place - and threw it in the rubbish. By the time I got a whiff of this unfolding disaster, one of the locals had already been thru' our rubbish bags and lifted the trigger mechanism portion. May the rubber ring land upon his nose, I say.

Reduced to attacking the nits - Dtouch crunching a few nasties with Long's mum

No matter, my tale of sadness pales away in comparison to Frank (of Hagar) reminiscing about life in PNG. 'You had to be very careful of the instructions you gave those blokes' he says - and then tells the story of his organisation getting a new super-beaut ute. First job - clean the yard. 'Now, pick all the piles of rubbish up and put them on the ute' he instructed. 'When all the rubbish is on the truck, then take it to the dump and burn it all'. His instructions were followed to the letter ....

Little Long

Long joined our Healing Home family on Friday night, together with his mum Chumpheang. I wanted you to see his face before you see his legs. I'm finding it so important to look into the eyes of these lovely people, rather than focussing on their distressing physical condition. Long's legs are certainly distressing.

Long is a great little guy, uncomplaining and hugging on his mum constantly. I understand that he is nine years old. Please pray for this lovely little fella.

Also with us is a family of four - mum Ngeit, dad Van and two of their seven children, Dtouch and Samnang. Ngeit has bad arthritis. Van, a hugely likeable guy, is blind in one eye and has a detached cornea (or is it the retina??) in the other. He is getting lined up for a eye op here in Phnom Penh.

Aren't kids a great way to start people - Dtouch and Samnang

Together with Rin and Srourn, that makes five patients and three family members. No, make that six patients - Donnie has just phoned in. The nineth bed is taken. With two carers sleeping in the home as well, that leaves us just with one top bunk spare. Here's hoping that grandma Ree does not decide to return in the next day or so ...

Security upgrade

It was heartening upon returning to the Healing Home to see that we have mud no longer on the road outside. The little lane has had another 6 metres or so of concrete roughly poured on it which takes it right past our front gate.

Our gate has two sections; a person-sized gate within the gate, through which people and motorbikes come and go, and then the gate proper that is mounted on roller wheels and a steel track so that it can slide open for vehicles. Today I found out that the gate was not going to slide anywhere in a hurry. It had been nicely cemented into the roadway ...

They call me 'Chippy' - starting the work of reclaiming a working gate

Sueless days

I'm back! Air Asia has done it's thing like clockwork and I'm writing from Phnom Penh once again. Susie is staying on in NZ for longer, spending great time with her great mum. It is a good decision and we are glad that we have chosen this way. Sue will get here when she gets here - which reminds me of a fun sign outside a restaurant we went to in New Plymouth: "All you can eat for as much as it costs".

Sue and her mum at the rest home

The trip back was made much more enjoyable by overnighting in Brisbane with Jason and Julia Hamilton-Smith, and going out to dinner with them and ....

Dave and Melody drove down through a crunching hail-storm to be at the dinner - and Kara just happened to be in Brisbane with her job that evening. It was such a fun evening. Next (very early) morning Julia took me all the way through to Gold Coast airport. 'Only for you, Kim' she reckons. Thanks a zillion, Julia!

I've not got to the Healing Home yet. It was tea time when I pulled in - one of the best tuk-tuk rides I've experienced. The vehicle was so wasted that it came with a built-in foot and butt massage. I quickly realised why this nice fella was so keen to take my offered price when others turned away.

So, tomorrow will be re-orientation day. I just hope that everyone likes Nurse Kim ...